Put on your seat belts, friends. There's a lot of words in this post today.
If you've followed my blog for awhile, then you know that my husband and I moved out to AZ from San Diego at the end of April. We had a few friends out here that were connections through Joshua's job, but other than that, there was no one. We had both grown up in San Diego. Both of our families live there. We went to a huge church and were really involved in our young married's group there. A lot of our childhood friends stayed in town, and didn't relocate.... there were a lot of people in our lives. And I mean that in a good way. We are blessed.
When we moved, it was a real shock to both of our systems. Every day, it was just the two of us. And I think that can be a really beautiful thing for a marriage. In fact, it's probably one of the BEST things you can ever do for a marriage: be completely, 100% dependent on one another. Joshua is my best friend in the whole world, and we love spending time together, but there was still a need for friendships in our day-to-day lives. Fortunately, God has provided for us in so many ways and has brought wonderful friends into our lives and has given us a fabulous "glue" with friends that we no longer live near.
If you've ever moved before, you know that moving is one of the strongest tests a friendship can ever go through. I'd heard that before, but it's true. A friend of mine recently told me, "Heather, some friends are friends for reason, season, or life." I have had to learn to be a good friend from afar (it's hard sometimes), and accept that some people just don't know how to be. And that's okay. Blogging has not only been an outlet for me since the move, but it's brought some great friendships into my life when I really needed them. I think a lot of people discount online relationships and it's WRONG. Some of the most incredible women I have ever known I have met here. I think other bloggers can say the same thing-- they "get it." The beautiful thing about blogging, and I think why bloggers are so beautiful, is that they LET YOU IN TO their lives. There's a transparency that comes with the territory.
When we moved, it was a real shock to both of our systems. Every day, it was just the two of us. And I think that can be a really beautiful thing for a marriage. In fact, it's probably one of the BEST things you can ever do for a marriage: be completely, 100% dependent on one another. Joshua is my best friend in the whole world, and we love spending time together, but there was still a need for friendships in our day-to-day lives. Fortunately, God has provided for us in so many ways and has brought wonderful friends into our lives and has given us a fabulous "glue" with friends that we no longer live near.
If you've ever moved before, you know that moving is one of the strongest tests a friendship can ever go through. I'd heard that before, but it's true. A friend of mine recently told me, "Heather, some friends are friends for reason, season, or life." I have had to learn to be a good friend from afar (it's hard sometimes), and accept that some people just don't know how to be. And that's okay. Blogging has not only been an outlet for me since the move, but it's brought some great friendships into my life when I really needed them. I think a lot of people discount online relationships and it's WRONG. Some of the most incredible women I have ever known I have met here. I think other bloggers can say the same thing-- they "get it." The beautiful thing about blogging, and I think why bloggers are so beautiful, is that they LET YOU IN TO their lives. There's a transparency that comes with the territory.
About two months after our move was when I started actively blogging. It was simply at outlet for me to write about all that I was going through in my new little world and to show friends & family pictures of our adventures. One of the first blogs I discovered was my friend Jen, of The Arizona Russums. She had "Arizona" in her blog title so it got me all excited that there might possibly be someone actually near me. So fast forward a few months of blogging... I was actively following Jen's awesome blog, and then I met another sweet Arizona blogger (who actually spends every-other-weekend in my city, say what?!!!), Erin, of Captivated by Grace... it was time to finally do a blogger meet up!!!
Ashley of The Shine Project was having a huge event in Phoenix (more about this below) so we decided this was a great way to see one another. It was such a fabulous evening of fun and for such an incredible cause. These blogger friends are 100% the real deal. Who they are online is who they are in "real life," and they couldn't be more beautiful on the inside or the outside. We met for a fabulous happy hour before the event. Erin & Jen drove together and got a little lost, so I had some time to kill while I waited for them....
Old man sitting at a table near me: "So young lady, did a cute boy stand you up or what?"
Me: "No sir, I'm just waiting for two girls that I met on the Internet."
Ashley of The Shine Project was having a huge event in Phoenix (more about this below) so we decided this was a great way to see one another. It was such a fabulous evening of fun and for such an incredible cause. These blogger friends are 100% the real deal. Who they are online is who they are in "real life," and they couldn't be more beautiful on the inside or the outside. We met for a fabulous happy hour before the event. Erin & Jen drove together and got a little lost, so I had some time to kill while I waited for them....
Old man sitting at a table near me: "So young lady, did a cute boy stand you up or what?"
Me: "No sir, I'm just waiting for two girls that I met on the Internet."
Bwhaahahahahaa!!!
Erin, me & Jen
Cute decorations // Me with Stesha of Classic & Bubbly
If you're not familiar with The Shine Project, it's a program that another AZ blogger, Ashley, has put on to help raise money to send 8 high schoolers to college. Through this event and it's auction (as well as an online auction) she's already raised thousands of dollars and it's only growing. The impact she's made on these kids lives, who would have never had the opportunity to go on to college, was incredible. The event was put on by the high schoolers themselves and it was amazing. And totally legit. The event was at the Octotillo Country Club, we got driven in on golf carts and it was as nice as some weddings I've been to. Congrats, Ashley, on a major success!!!!
Erin, me & Jen
Cute decorations // Me with Stesha of Classic & Bubbly
If you're not familiar with The Shine Project, it's a program that another AZ blogger, Ashley, has put on to help raise money to send 8 high schoolers to college. Through this event and it's auction (as well as an online auction) she's already raised thousands of dollars and it's only growing. The impact she's made on these kids lives, who would have never had the opportunity to go on to college, was incredible. The event was put on by the high schoolers themselves and it was amazing. And totally legit. The event was at the Octotillo Country Club, we got driven in on golf carts and it was as nice as some weddings I've been to. Congrats, Ashley, on a major success!!!!
Us with Ashley
I never win anything, but I did win a cute "This too shall pass" sign from 41 West Designs during the auction (Erin's holding it above). It looks so cute in my office! After the event, we were driving home and realized that we all didn't want to conclude our evening together so we went out for fro yo at the BEST frozen yogurt place I have yet to find in AZ! So my friends, what does this mean? That yours truly will be spending a lot of time in Phoenix seeing my new bloggy friends over fro yo!! :)
It was definitely one of the best nights of my life out here so far! I had so much fun! On my drive home, I listened to 80's jams and watched shooting stars out my window the entire drive. If you have never seen the stars in Arizona, it really is like nothing I have ever seen. I was so encouraged by these women and am so excited to see where God takes our friendship!!!
Top: Forever 21
Skirt: Target
Boots: Nine West
Necklace: Soleil Selene
P.S. Also through Jen, she informed me that her church has a sister church down in our area. We recently thought we'd found a church we loved, but God had other plans :) We visited this new church on Saturday night, a part of the Acts 29 network through Mark Driscoll-- who we love!!-- and it was off the hook! So not only have I made friends through blog land, we've also found a new church family. God works in mysterious ways. So the next person that discounts your online relationships, prove them wrong!
